Threshing-machine



P.' WELLER. Thrashing and Cleaning Grain.

No. 4,398. Paten ted March 7,1846.

N, PETERS. mmutho n mr. Washington, 04 c.

Unrran STATESi P TENT: OFEIGE.

PLINY wELL a'or' FOWLERVILLE, NEW YORK.

THRESI-IING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,398, dated March 7, 1846.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PLINY WELLER, of F owlerville, in the county ofLivin ston and State of New York, have inventec certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Threshing and Cleaning Grain; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof.

In the accompanying drawing Figure l is a top view of my machine, andFig. 2 a vertical sect-ion through its center from end to end. Thesedrawings are made on a scale of three-fourths of an inch to the foot,taking an operating machine that I have constructed as a standard, andwhich machine has been found to answer the purpose perfectly well.

A is the cylinder B the concave of a threshing machine.

C is the feeding board and D a platform on which the person tending itmay stand.

E is an inclined board down which the straw and grain descend from thethreshing cylinder; the cylinder A and the inclined board E aresurrounded by a casing a a a.

F is a cylindrical sieve, or rolling screen which is open at both ends,and has its periphery formed of woven wire with meshes of such size aswill allow the grain to pass through; this rolling screen is without ashaft, its rims b 7) being sustained by and running against frictionrollers c c. The straw and grain pass into the screen F and as thisscreen revolves the ribs (Z d and the spikes e 6 lift the straw andcause itto turn over repeatedly in its passage. The grain which passesthrough the meshes of the screen falls into a trough G and in itspassage is subjected to the action of a fan wheel H that separates alarge portion of the chaif from it and blows it out on to an endlessapron I, I, represented by red lines while the grain falls on to theendless apron J J represented also by red lines the straw from thescreen F falls on to the endless apron I, I, and is carried up by itclear of the grain cleaning portion of the machine. There may be slats,or ledges on these endless aprons but they are not absolutely necessary,more especially for the apron that carries oif the straw, but they serveto keep the aprons stretched widthwise.

The grain, partially cleaned, that falls on to the apron- J, is carriedup by it and falls from it into a hopper or chute K by which it isdelivered into a second rolling screen L inclined back as represented inthe drawing. This screen like that first described is without a shaft,has both ends open and is sustained by friction rollers c 0 bearingagainst its rims b, b.

M is a second fan wheel the wind from which blows in a strong currentthrough the screen L and carries the chaff and every thing that islighter than the sound grain out at the rear end of the screen while thegrain descending to its fore end falls on to the floor or into a bin asmay be desired.

The grain as it descends in the screen L is carried up and turned overby the ribs (Z d and is consequently fully and repeatedly acted upon bythe wind. The meshes of the screen L are of such size as not to allowthe wheat or other grain to pass through while the cockle and othersmall seeds are screened out by it as effectually as by the use of thecleaning apparatus used in the fiouring mills.

The proper motion may be given to the respective parts of this machinein various ways. I have employed the following. N, Fig. 1 is a shaft towhich the motive power may be applied; this carries a beveled wheel 0that meshes into a beveled inion P on the shaft of the threshingcylinder. The shaft N also carries a band, that passing around the rimof the rolling screen F causes it to revolve; from a whirl f on theshaft of the threshing machine, a band passes so as to embrace whirls onthe two fan wheels and on the rollers of the endless aprons; 'g is awhirl on the shaft of the fan M which shaft.

also carries a pinion it that meshes into the wheel 2' on the shaft Qgiving motion to the whirl y and this by the band is causes the screen Lto revolve.

Having thus fully described the manner in which I combine and arrangethe respective parts of my machine, and shown the operation thereof, Ido hereby declare that I do not claim to be the inventor of the claimthe combining of the two rolling screens F and L with the two endless 10aprons I, and J,so as to effect the separation and cleaning of the grainin the manner set forth.

PHINY WELLER.

Witnesses: i

Tnos. P. JONES, ED IN L. BRUNDAGE.

